Dec. 13, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland gymnastics team competed for the first time in the public spotlight last night as they took the floor in the annual Red vs. Black Intrasquad meet. The Black team won the tight race of high scores, while both had strong showings on all events.

"This was a tough week for us with exams," first year head coach Brett Nelligan said. "The girls were tired because they were studying. I was a little worried coming into the competition, but this team is focused and ready to compete. They know how to pull it together when they need to."

For the five newcomers to the team, Saturday night was their first public competition as a Terrapin. The four freshman, Kesley Cofsky, Ally Krikorian, Brooke Grohol and Briana Melander, as well as junior Jennifer Iovino, all competed and had impressive routines on each of their events.

"Overall, I was really impressed with the freshmen. In our first Intrasquad meet (that was closed to the public) they were still getting their bearings and figuring out what to do. In this meet they looked relaxed. They competed well and that was important for us to see that," Nelligan said.

"Kesley Cofsky was on fire today. She hit her bars routine, she hit her beam routine and her floor and vault routines were great. I was really impressed with her."

The Terps open the regular competition at Louisiana State on Jan. 8. The Tigers are ranked No. 6 in the preseason Coaches' poll. Saturday's meet was an important step for the Terrapins in preparing for such a high-profile season opener.

"We've been putting a lot of focus on being ready for that first meet," Nelligan said. "We don't want to be first-meet ready. We want to be fifth-meet ready."

Don't forget to check out the latest edition of Terp Talk - the Terps' team blog that comes out every Monday.